Wednesday, 21 February 2018

Spring? Winter!!

My last post mentioned some clear signs of spring, and I saw even more of them last Wednesday when I found myself treated to an unexpected free afternoon and went for a walk with my sister (more on that in another post).But we all knew we weren't going to get away with it so easily, and that spring wasn't going to come without some serious cold weather first. In recent years, winter has shown this tendency over and over again; mild - even warm! - weeks in November and December, followed by a mixed bag in January and then a really cold spell in February or even March. Not to mention the icy rain that fell last April and killed up to 80 % of crops for many owners of orchards and vineyards in our area.At the end of November, on the opening day of my hometown's Christmas Market, we had 15 C (59 F) - it felt a lot more like approaching Easter than Christmas. This week, we've had nights as cold as -6 or -7 C (19 F), with temperatures during the day not reaching much more than 3 C (37 F). And it has snowed nearly all of Saturday.

Sunrise on the 15th of February - foreboding but spectacluar, much more than the photo shows.

Saturday the 17th, at 3:00 pm

Sunday the 18th, at 11:00 am

O.K. was here last weekend, and we went out for a walk of just under 3 hours on the Sunday. We even had some sunny patches, but by the time we arrived back home, I was very, very ready to get back into the warmth.

Still, there are distinctively more hours of daylight than a few weeks ago, and all the other signs of spring being on its way are still there, too. Isn't it a comfort to know that the succession of the seasons never fails?

Yesterday was sunny with a cloudless blue sky, but still very cold, and the only time I spent outside was on my way to work, the short distances between my house and the train station as well as the station and the office building.

We had 72degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday! (22.22 Celsius). But now we are back to hovering just above freezing with rain that is almost ice. Nobody's favorite. But I love the change of seasons and would never want to move to someplace without this. And just now I look forward to my favorite season, beautiful spring!

Wow - 22 C in February is impressive!! Of course it couldn't (and shouldn't) last, but I bet the birds made quite a day of it.I, too, love the change of the seaons and would not want to live somewhere without them.

We have had record breaking heat for several days! I think it made it to 80 today and the daffodils are blooming and the pear trees are out in their white blossoms. We will have cold weather again though, just when we think it is all over!Always love the views out your window!

We've been stuck in a cold spell here for a good while now, well below zero and icy streets which makes it rather tiresome to be out. Today like -8 and extra windchill, and somehow mysteriously even snowing from (almost) clear blue sky...!

We've been having a sunny weekend - cloudless blue sky and deceivingly warm in the direct sun when or where there is no wind, but icy cold as soon as the wind comes, the kind of biting your face and ears. It is forecast to be even colder next week... But eventually, spring will come!

I've been away from home for a while and haven't been in Blogland much so it's a bit of a surprise to see the temperatures you are mentioning. However last night we were warned that the UK is about to get a blast of weather from Siberia which will be much colder that the beautiful clear days with the temperatures hovering just above zero that we have been having.